NRG Expert Wind Energy Report Ed 1 2011

Price: £1,950.00
Prod. Code: NRGWE1

This global wind energy report contains a full analysis of wind power developments, worldwide and by country. Research of the wind industry, looking at on and offshore wind power, the advantages and disadvantages of wind energy including wind energy forecast through to 2020. This combined with an analysis of the growth of the wind energy industry, and the global development and installation of wind turbines and wind turbine technology makes this report a must have. This report also looks at the top five wind markets, the European wind energy market, and top three wind turbine manufacturers from China – the current number one in the wind energy market.

Global Wind Energy analysis of each key market, intermediate markets and
up and coming markets outlining the key players in the industry

Advantages and disadvantages for Wind Power & Energy

Background to this research

Market Growth

2010 was a weak year for the wind energy industry with only 37 GW installed. Once again growth was lead by the Chinese market, which accounted for around one of every two wind turbines installed. Consequently, China overtook the US to become the number one wind energy market. The top three Chinese manufacturers, Sinovel, Dongfang and Goldwind, all increased their world rankings in terms of installed capacity, and secured more international contracts for wind turbines.

Offshore Wind Power Sector

Chinese manufacturers have also started to enter the offshore wind power sector to compete with Vestas and Siemens, the two top manufacturers for wind farm projects.
Sinovel is the main Chinese manufacturer as thirty four of its 3 MW wind turbines were installed off the coast of Shanghai in late 2010. Furthermore, the Chinese government recently awarded 1 GW of offshore projects to Chinese developers that plan to use wind turbines from domestic manufacturers. Also in Asia, growth in offshore and onshore projects in South Korea is expected. The sector should also take off in Japan in anticipation of a feed-in tariff for wind and the fact that the country’s wind turbines withstood the recent earthquake and tsunami.

In Europe growth was driven by the offshore sector with over 1 GW of added capacity. A lack of onshore land due to space and regulatory restrictions has prompted offshore growth. However, as with last year, very little has been done to overcome supply chain barriers, namely lack of cabling and offshore vessels, and the formation of the European wind energy offshore grid has gained momentum but is still a long way off. Despite this, wind farm developers have invested heavily in offshore projects and have a strong portfolio, and several wind turbine manufacturers have announced plans to open facilities in the UK to meet anticipated offshore demand.

Onshore Wind Energy Market

Strong growth in the onshore wind energy market in Europe has been reported in Eastern Europe, for example Romania, and in other countries with a small installed capacity e.g. Finland. In established European wind energy markets instead of new wind turbines at new sites, the market is expected to be driven by replacement of old, inefficient wind turbines with more efficient higher mega-watt models, known as repowering, due to the limited available good onshore sites.

In the US offshore projects are only starting to attract interest, with most of the focus still on onshore projects as there are not the land constraints observed in Europe. A total of 5,115 W of new capacity was installed constrained by difficulties in obtaining power purchase agreements and a general lack of access to financing.

Further south the Brazilian market is a strong area for growth following two wind power projects in 2010 and planned auctions for 2011. Several wind turbine manufacturers have announced plans to set up manufacturing facilities in the country such as GE and Gamesa, to meet domestic demand and the growing South American market.

Rare Earth Metals

There has also been an increase in companies that are launching gearless wind turbine models, but supply of the rare earth metal neodymium is still an issue. Manufacturers of both these turbines with permanent production facilities in China have a clear advantage in the market. As China accounts for the bulk of neodymium production and continues to limit export quotas for the metal.

The price of wind turbines in China and elsewhere has decreased due to lower commodity prices from earlier highs and the production of more efficient wind turbines, which produce more energy per kg of turbine.